Wednesday 22 January 2014

What Do Mount Kilimanjaro, Alzheimer's and Meditation All Have in Common?

What a year this has been! It was a year ago that my husband and I celebrated at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. I didn't realize it at the time, that it would be the start of a year with much personal growth. I wrote an article about the lessons I learned from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and how they could be related to Alzheimer's disease. I now realize, that the lessons go much deeper than that!

So... what do they all have in common? They all test our ability and are a barometer for how skillful we are at living in the moment and actually being present for our lives. I knew when I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro that I wasn't very good at really experiencing every moment. I spent a lot of time listening to my music and audiobooks and obsessing about whether my solar charger would work, because god forbid I should be alone with myself and my thoughts! Most of the time I spent worrying, fretting and avoiding my feelings as apposed to bearing witness to them and accepting them. Every night I would lie in the tent and drown out my thoughts with my audiobooks.

For the past year I have been studying and practicing meditation in an attempt to be more comfortable with myself and experience more of my life as I'm living it. Although I have a long way to go, I know that I have come a long way. I now can go for a run without my music, I notice more things in nature, I can focus on other people more when interacting, I can actually taste and notice the food that I'm eating.  I feel calmer and have come to understand that "thinking" isn't the answer to my problems or challenges. I have also realized that avoiding or trying to drown out our feelings doesn't make them go away!

Alzheimer's has been the ultimate gift and barometer in that it has given me an opportunity to practice being in the moment. When I can be in the moment with someone with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, I can enjoy the time spent together as I'm less apt to be "thinking" about the past and worrying about the future. For this reason, I will continue my connection with people and families experiencing dementia, as a way to practice and cherish the connections which transcend words, time and space.

Thank you to those of you who are living with and sharing your experiences with dementia. We have a lot to learn about ourselves and this disease can help us to do that!!

2 comments:

  1. For those people whose relative are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and maybe reading this, I find it hard that people are still ignorant of herbal medicine when it comes to treating Alzheimer’s Disease.
    I have been through many phases over the last couple of years since my father's diagnosis, he was 53 years old and had Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and his diagnosis changed my life in many ways, I spend most of the time in denial and I keep thinking the tests were wrong. But deep down I knew they were correct. Though sharing his story is very difficult. He was always very successful in being able to accomplish anything he set his mind on doing. Alzheimer’s is a bitch of a disease. It began by robbing his recent memory, but it didn't stop there. It continues to steal, taking the most recent memories until it has pilfered all but the oldest memories, he experienced a decline in his ability to think, remember and make decisions. I feel a need to express my thoughts and feelings about how it affected his day to day living and how its deteriorated since despite the help of some wonderful medics and medicine.
    I remind myself how lucky to come across Charanjit rychtova's herbal medicine which is able to control this disease without any side effect, I felt a moment of relief hoping that he is free from this ailment, and nothing compares to the healing power of nature. Now I believe almost every health problem can be addressed in one natural way or another. The only thing I wanted was for him to feel better. I’m proud to say my Dad is Alzheimer’s free. You can also contact him for advice and more info. charantova@gmail.com

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